FERC Approves Ala. Georgia Connector to Upgrade 5 Compressors

Last year, Williams filed a formal application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to upgrade Transco pipeline’s capacity in Alabama and Georgia (see Transco Seeks FERC OK to Expand Capacity in Alabama and Georgia). The Alabama Georgia Connector Project involves upgrades to five compressor stations that will increase capacity in the region by an…

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PA Gov. Shapiro Seeks to Require 35% Unreliable Renewables by 2035

In 2004, Pennsylvania implemented one of the most aggressive mandates to adopt wind and solar energy. At the time, less than 1% of net energy generation came from wind and solar in the Keystone State. In 2023, after the state had spent nearly $1.5 billion in subsidies, wind and solar generated less than 2%. And…

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Shell PA Cracker Must File for Full Title V Air Permit, or Else

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent a letter to the Shell ethane cracker plant on Feb. 22 essentially saying, “You’re time is up.” The cracker plant facility has 120 days from Feb. 22 (until Jun. 21) to file for a federal Title V Operating Permit for air emissions. If the facility doesn’t at…

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NY Hiring PR Firm for $500,000 to Push Anti-Fossil Fuel Message

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is shopping for a public relations firm that can help the agency convince gullible New Yorkers that they’re better off paying more money for unreliable renewable energy than they are in using fossil fuels like natural gas. NYSERDA is offering $500,000 for a one-year contract…

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Dems Intro Bill to Create PA-Only Marcellus-Killing Carbon Tax

It’s full speed ahead for the radical anti-Marcellus Democrats in the Pennsylvania State Legislature. Last week, PA Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled to Scranton, PA, to do a dog-and-pony show announcing his personalized version of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax that would apply only to PA (see PA Gov. Shapiro Proposes Own Version…

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0% of New PA Shale Wells have “Interfered” with Water, Other Wells

Honestly, we can’t heap enough praise on the excellent work done by Pennsylvania shale drillers. It is unreasonable to expect there will be absolutely zero problems when engaging in something as complex as drilling a mile straight down and then one to four miles horizontally underground. Nothing in life is error-free. NOTHING. There’s always a…

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Radicals Win in NY – Senate Passes Permanent Ban on CO2 Fracking

Where do business dreams go to die? New York State, of course. Yesterday, the New York State Senate passed a bill to ban the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) in any process to extract natural gas or oil in the so-called Empire State. The NY Assembly (our state’s lower chamber) voted to approve the same…

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PA GOP Lawmakers Say Governor’s Carbon Tax Scheme “Dead on Arrival”

Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled to Scranton, PA, to do a dog-and-pony show announcing his personalized version of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax that would apply only to PA (see PA Gov. Shapiro Proposes Own Version of Marcellus-Killing Carbon Tax). Shapiro calls it PACER, the Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act….

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SRBC Approves 8 Water Withdrawal Requests for Fracking in NEPA

The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals for responsible and safe shale drilling. Last Thursday, the SRBC approved 23 new water withdrawal requests within the basin, eight of…

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Fed Court Quizzes Enviros and NJ re Williams Transco Expansion

A three-judge panel from the federal D.C. Circuit spent two hours on Friday hearing arguments for and against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of Williams’ Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project. REAE is an expansion of the mighty Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to deliver an extra 829 MMcf/d of Marcellus…

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Elba Island LNG Expansion Gets Positive Enviro Assessment from FERC

In April 2022, MDN reported that the top brass at Kinder Morgan, the owner and operator of the Elba Island LNG export facility (also known as Southern LNG), was considering an expansion of its modestly-sized facility (see Kinder Morgan Considers Expanding Marcellus-fed Elba Island LNG). KM subsequently submitted an application to federal regulators last year…

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CNX Failed to Ask “Mother, May I?” for Reservoir Water Withdrawal

CNX Resources was slapped with a “notice of violation” (NOV) by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for withdrawing over 1.8 million gallons of water in Washington County, PA (for use in shale gas fracking) without first seeking the proper “Mother, May I?” approvals. The withdrawals happened over a 22-day period in the summer…

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Temporary Setback for CNX Gas & Water Pipeline Project in SWPA

CNX Resources filed a request with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in April 2023 to build two pipelines — two for natural gas — along a 13.9-mile route in Bell, Loyalhanna and Salem Townships in Westmoreland County. An additional 4-mile pipeline would be built for water. Called the Slickville Trunkline Project, the DEP…

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PA DEP Uses Carrot & Stick re Paperwork from Conventional Drillers

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently (maybe yesterday?) posted a notice on its website announcing that conventional oil and gas well operators will not be eligible for new methane reduction well plugging grants (free money!) if they are not in compliance with state law paperwork requirements. Channeling their inner schoolmarm, the DEP tells…

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PA Gov Shapiro Puffs His Chest to Announce Plugging 200 Old Wells

The blowhard Democrat Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, took a bow last year to tout that “his” administration (as opposed to the Democrat who preceded him, Tom Wolf) had plugged more than 130 abandoned old oil and gas wells in the state, more than “the previous eight years combined” (see PA DEP Spending $44M This…

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